


FDS Andromeda

by Zooobly



Category: Original Work
Genre: Cryogenics, Gen, Humans are space orcs, Outer Space, Science Fiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-20
Updated: 2020-05-20
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:00:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24289321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zooobly/pseuds/Zooobly
Summary: Waking was a slow process.This was written for the prompt "cryo sleep" in the Space Orcs discord server.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 32
Collections: Humans Are Space Orcs





	FDS Andromeda

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for the prompt "cryo sleep" in the Space Orcs discord server. I have lots of ideas for this, but it is unlikely I will actually do anything with it.

Waking was a slow process.

First was an overwhelming sense of nothingness. Just existing. Then came the feeling of possessing a body. Coldness followed, then sounds. They were muted, as if far away, but seemed close all the same. Beeping, a mechanical voice, a hydraulic lock disengaging. Stale air filtered through her lungs, artificially oxygenated. Eyes fluttered open and stared unseeing at the domed glass above her.  
Later, she couldn’t have said how long she lay there, unmoving, but it felt like an eternity and just a moment simultaneously.

The mechanical voice kept speaking and it took a moment for her to understand.  
“Major Elena Gimmes, FDS Andromeda. Vitals are stable. Opening cryogenic sleep chamber.”  
Elena… That was her name, wasn’t it?

The glass dome she was still staring at moved first up and then back. Slowly, a bit unsure if her limbs would obey her, Elena moved into a sitting position. The cryo pod she had been sleeping in was one of many, arranged in neat rows along both sides of the room. She easily recognized the familiar layout, relieved to find she was still very much on the same ship she had left earth on. Not quite trusting her legs yet, Elena peered into the surrounding pods. Empty.  
What happened? Why and – maybe more importantly – how long had she been in cryo sleep?

“Oxygen levels at 21%. Temperature: 19°C. All life sustaining conditions are met.”  
Elena’s blood ran cold. Life sustaining conditions…

“Computer-“ Her voice broke, brittle and raw after her time asleep. She cleared her throat and tried again. “Computer, _where_ are these conditions met?”

“Life sustaining conditions are met in: Cryogenic sleep chamber storage room, Med-Bay and infirmary. Program to restore life sustaining conditions initialized at 0900 universal time. Estimated time of completion: 1300 universal time.”

Elena didn’t even realize she was shaking until her eyes fell on her hands in her lap. She took deep breaths and curled her hands into fists.  
“What is the date? Earth time.”  
“Today is the 23rd of July 2156.”  
Her breath hitched and her eyes widened. A hundred years? How was that even possible? How was the ship still up and running?  
But that was just it, wasn’t it? The ship _wasn’t_ up and running. All systems had shut down and life sustaining measures were only just restarting. Elena’s head shot up. The crew!  
“Computer, what about the rest of the crew? Are they in cryo sleep still?”  
“Listing all viable lifeforms on board: Major Elena Gimmes, human. Unnamed foetus, half human, half Tha’fell.”  
… What.

With a calm she didn’t truly feel, Elena climbed out of the cryo pod and stood, bracing herself on its edge. First things first. “Computer, full status report please.”

While she listened to the AI listing energy and fuel levels, available resources and the status of the different machineries, she made her way down the rows of cryo pods. By the time she reached the door to the infirmary she no longer relied on the pods to keep her upright.  
The infirmary was a mess. Equipment lay strewn over the floor; medicine cabinets were in complete disarray. There were no signs of a fight, no blood stains or shot marks, and Elena rather thought the chaos was a result of the artificial gravity having been turned off and then later on again.

She sat down on one of the beds and allowed herself a minute to process, to grieve. She was the last living being on the Andromeda. The whole crew was… gone. Dead, most likely. They weren’t in the cryo pods and even with how far technology and medicine had come when she had last been awake, no human could live that long. Why couldn’t she remember what happened? Why was she the only one put into cryo sleep? And…  
Elena cradled her stomach. Whose child was she carrying? The Tha’fell were one of the very few species that were compatible with humans in both genetics and… stature. They were a peaceful people, only a few years ahead of humanity in terms of space travel, and members of the Umbra Alliance. Several Tha’fell had been part of the Andromeda’s crew, but Elena hadn’t been involved with any of them. Or had she? There were vague memories of a face, soft hands, a voice saying her name…

She shook her head resolutely. There was no point in trying to remember. The memories would come back or they wouldn’t. Right now, she needed to find out what exactly happened on the ship. To that end, she needed access to the ship’s logs and for that, she needed to go to the bridge. The time on the control panel next to the door leading to the corridor read 0979.

“Computer, how far along are the life sustaining measures? Is the bridge and the way there readied for use?”

“The air on the bridge is not yet breathable. Initialize prioritizing?”

Elena sighed, but answered in an affirmative.

A few earth hours later, at 1148 universal time, Elena finally arrived on the bridge. On her way she saw the same chaos as in the infirmary, everything not nailed down or confined in cabinets strewn over the floor. No signs of the crew. She hoped that meant they all left before the systems had shut down, but tried not to get her hopes up.

The bridge was exactly as she remembered. All angles and clean lines, a big screen simulating the view outside and one lone chair in front of the main console. The captain’s chair. Elena hesitated only a moment before lowering herself into the chair.

“Computer: Emergency Override X10076. Start neural interface calibration.”

“Initializing… Pairing complete.”

Hours later Elena had combed through the logs, trying to find the last thing she remembered and working from there. Tears streamed down her face; she had given up on trying to stop them some time ago. Gone. They were all gone. She was the last surviving member of the FDS Andromeda’s crew. Her hands clutched her stomach. Kar’vien. How could she have forgotten? In the rational part of her brain Elena knew it was a combination of the trauma to her head and the cryo sleep but her heart felt guilty all the same. To think she had only woken because of the failsafe in the computers programming. Without it she would have slept on, until the resources finally ran out, even the most basic of systems shutting down and with them the cryo pods.

Deep breaths. She needed to calm down and clear her head. Breaking down wouldn’t help. She needed to bring the ship up to standard, try and contact the alliance, _anyone_ , find a planet or a space station or another ship before the Andromeda’s resources ran out – she took a shuddering breath. One thing after another.

It seemed the Andromeda had a new captain.


End file.
